Apropos is paul krugman's column today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/opinion/13krugman.html?

"All across the executive branch, knowledgeable professionals have been driven out; there may not have been anyone left at Treasury with the stature and background to tell Mr. Paulson that he wasn’t making sense."

"Luckily for the world economy, however, Gordon Brown and his officials are making sense. And they may have shown us the way through this crisis."

Yep, and a particular thanks to Gordon Brown. He's smart, he's tough, he's shite at politics... and he's Scottish! Seriously, the UK is, if anything, in a worse position than the US, with London SO dependent on finance. Fortunately, Brown has been pilloried for being too-cautious, too little too late, yesterday's man, and had collapsed in the polls. All of which seems to have provide the requisite push needed for him to act more decisively.

Let's hope it starts something positive. This recession's gonna be ugly, just on its own merits, and I was NOT looking forward to facing it amidst a total financial meltdown.

And kudos to Krugman, eh? That made me genuinely happy. Not that he's the best economist in the world, but just to se the prize NOT go to yet another right-wing quantitative dipshit. Those guys have eaten academia, and reduced our young Economics brainpower to gray goo. We need another Keynes, but if Krugman could become the next Galbraith, I'd be happy.

Thanks Lux. Rec'd. Whether it shows up or not!

Call me a groupie -- or now a "follower" -- Lux, but when you endorse a person, or an action by anyone, I feel as though someone way smarter than I am has fairly analyzed the situation. Makes me feel optimistic -- someone whose opinion I respect is paying attention. So thanks. (I'd rec if I could, but I can't so I will when I can.)